CHESTERTOWN — Bradley Adam, a national runner-up skipper at the collegiate level and experienced 420 and Optimist coach, has been hired to lead Washington's sailing program.

He is a 2018 graduate of St. Mary's College of Maryland, helping the Seahawks finish 14th in the nation this spring.

In an Aug. 8 news release announcing the hiring, Washington Athletic Director Thad Moore said he was confident that Adam "was the right coach to grow our program and take it to new heights."

At the 2018 Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association's coed national championships, Adam skippered St. Mary's to a second-place finish in B Division. That was after he skippered St. Mary's to first place in B Division at the ICSA western semifinal, which sent the Seahawks to the national championships.

Adam also skippered the Seahawks to second place in B Division of the America Trophy regatta, which is the Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association's coed spring championship. St. Mary's finished second in the conference.

During a stellar college career, Adam, now 24, registered more than a dozen top-five divisional finishes.

While sailing at St. Mary's, Adam was mentored by two former Washington College head coaches — Bill Ward, who is the Seahawks' director of sailing, and assistant coach Conner Blouin '10.

Adam thanked all of his coaches, particularly at St. Mary's, “for the guidance and mentorship that they have given me over the years," he said in a prepared statement.

A certified US Sailing small boat instructor Level 3 coach, Adam spent this summer as the assistant program director at the Miles River Yacht Club in St. Michaels. He was responsible for all aspects of daily functioning of the program, planned all home and away regattas, and oversaw a staff of 15.

His coaching experience also includes time as the Optimist race coach at Annapolis Yacht Club, the head 420 race coach at Beverly Yacht Club in Marion, Mass., and the Optimist/C420 coach at Pleon Yacht Club in Marblehead, Mass.

Adam is a native of Rhode Island, where he developed into one of the nation's top youth sailors. He won the 2012 C420 North American Championship and was named a 2012 Jobson Youth All-Star.

Sailing has been a varsity sport at Washington College since the fall of 1997.

The Shore sailors qualified for the ICSA coed national championship first round six times in the seven-year period of 2008 to 2014. Washington also qualified for the ICSA women's national championship semifinal in 2012.

Under construction is the $5 million Hodson Boathouse on college-owned waterfront along the Chester River, which is within a mile's walk of the main campus. The boathouse, which is on track to open this fall, is expected to give Washington a significant advantage in recruitment.